Project Ascent, Friends of the Quilting House and the Wild Coyote hosted a wildly successful Winter Carnival in Thompson Falls, Montana on January 19. Families were invited to the inaugural event held in the parking lot of Wild Coyote and featured games for prizes, hay rides, an ice volcano and a custom made sledding hill suitable for all ages. FSPW provided snow shoes and Ray Brown, Sander County Outreach Coordinator, was on site to coordinate the snow shoe races. Most participants were hesitant at first due to never trying on snow shoes but it did not take long for them to find their snow legs. Racers showed their speed and agility with some very surprising dark horse victories. Most importantly smiles could be found on every child and laughter could be heard throughout the entire day. The Winter Carnival was clearly a hit as evidenced when FSPW Board Member, Jen Kreiner, overheard one child exclaiming, “This place is so magical. It’s so pretty outside and so peaceful.”